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Archives for July 2015

The name “Club Med” is pretty much a well-known brand where holiday resorts are concerned. Their best-selling factor is the all-inclusive food, accommodation and activities package in a luxurious idyllic setting. Everything is taken care of, the moment you step into a Club Med and that’s exactly what a perfect holiday should be!
The sole Club Med here in Malaysia is located in Cherating, Pahang. Club Med Cherating Beach is nestled on a perfect spot: between a lush tropical forest on one … [Read more...]

The revamped Atria Mall in Damansara Jaya has caused quite a stir in the neighbourhood. After so many years of “renovation”, the revamped and enlarged mall looks nothing like what it used to be. There are quite a number of eateries in the mall and several serving Japanese food. Manmaru Robatayaki is one of the bigger ones there. Some of you may have heard of Manmaru Udon (read my review here) and yes, Manmaru Robatayaki is owned by the same people.
The menu here is impressive, both in … [Read more...]

Russian food is not something that’s widely available here. In fact, I’ve never tried much of Russian cuisine except for the well-known beef stroganoff and chicken kiev but merely eating those 2 dishes does not qualify one to say that one has tried Russian cuisine. It’s akin to declaring that you have eaten Chinese food when you’ve only had sweet-sour pork and fried wantan.
So when an invitation came my way recently to check out a restaurant serving Russian food, I did not hesitate to say … [Read more...]

I lost count of the number of times the word “piggy” appears on the menu of Piggy Tail. This eatery, hardly a year old (opened since November last year) located in the busy Telawi area of Bangsar is packing in pork lovers by the droves.
Looking at the menu, which is full of all sorts of porcine delights, it’s kinda difficult to make a selection because everything looks good. The goodies are grouped under “Breakfast”, “Salads”, “Soups”, “Pasta”, “Piggy Burgers”, “Rice” and “Desserts”. In … [Read more...]

There are not many stand-alone pork-free dim sum restaurants in the city. Many perceive that dim sum without pork are “not that nice” as pork is deemed to be a major taste contributor for dim sum. However, there are several pork-free Chinese restaurants in town that serve decent dim sum and I’m so glad that there’s another restaurant being added to that list: Dolly Dim Sum.
Located in Avenue K, as the name suggests, Dolly Dim Sum is not your typical Chinese restaurant. Dolly Dim … [Read more...]

The very first car I owned, way back in the 1980’s was a Honda. It was a white 2nd generation hatchback Civic and I still can remember how thrilled I was when I took my first drive in my first car. Years later, I bought another Honda Civic which I absolutely loved and I kept it for more than 5 years before changing it for a Honda CRV. So you see, Honda and I went a long way and I have good sentiments about this brand.
So when I was invited to participate in a special drive event for the … [Read more...]

The other day somebody asked me the meaning of “speakeasy”. I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, so I asked around and I read some. I researched. Well, apparently the term refers to an “illegal establishment that sells alcoholic beverages” and people spoke quietly (hence “speak easy”) about such places so as not to alert the law enforcers. This was back in the 1920’s in the US where this started. The trend was revived in the late 2000’s and the term “speakeasy” has now expanded to include retro … [Read more...]

Unagi is a summertime delicacy in Japan. This is the time when the eels get really fat and their meat become more tender as there’s more fat marbling. From now until 31 July 2015, Iketeru at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur is bringing in these luscious unagi from the Miyazaki prefecture of Kyushu Island in Japan, a place renowned for their premium catch.
Supplies come in twice a week, so you can be sure the unagi are totally fresh, practically from sea to plate, a concept favoured by … [Read more...]

I was immediately drawn to the cover of this cookbook, by the big wide smile of the author herself. Marina Mustafa is the author of “Hari Raya Classics”, one of the latest books from MPH Publishing under its MPH Masterclass Kitchens series. Marina is no stranger to cookbook writing - this is, after all, her 6th cookbook and her 2nd one in English.
As the name suggests, it’s a book on classic Hari Raya dishes. It’s not a very thick book. There are 25 recipes featured here, under 5 categories: … [Read more...]

One of the highlights of my London trip a couple of months ago is my dinner at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Listed as No.7 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2015 coupled with Heston’s status as a celebrity chef, it isn't surprising that bookings at this 2 Michelin-starred restaurant is almost always full months ahead. I booked our table 2 months before my trip and could only get a 9pm slot for dinner during the 10 days I was in London.
Opened in 2011, the dishes served here are inspired by … [Read more...]